


My Narrow Road

by hopeandjoy



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Amnesia, Anxiety, Coming of Age, Fix-It, Gen, It Could Be That Deep, M/M, Pokemon Battle, Post-Pokemon Black & White, Searching (for others and yourself), actually mute!red, during black & white 2-ish, exploring the multiverse theory for fun and profit and ghosts, im actually trying to write a battle wow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-14 16:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11212107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopeandjoy/pseuds/hopeandjoy
Summary: Touya's search for N has brought him all over the world. Ok, maybe it's only brought him through two regions before he arrived in Johto. And ok, maybe he hasn't called home in two years. And maybe he's not searching that hard, giving up early like usual.That is, until a mysterious girl named Kris whom only Touya can see barges into his life with a half-baked reason to travel together: she'll motivate him to find N and he'll motivate her to find the past she's forgotten.Along the way, Touya finds himself drawn into the lives of other prominent trainers, many of whom are struggling with their own identities in the face of coming adulthood. Plus, Kris' past seems to contain a reality that she can't quite face.





	1. From 7 to 8

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to. this monster. aka a receptacle for gameverse world-and-character building.
> 
> pairings are there and like. feelings are discussed, but shipping isn't the focus of this fic and if there's anything there may be some smooching, maybe. the focus is more on the characters on their own.
> 
> fic title is from MikitoP and Ito Kashitarou's lovely song ["My Narrow Road."](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMAdeMPk13I) i use music a lot to inspire me, so any relevant songs will be linked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _As I’m stuck in the same place, unable to move on since that day,_  
>  _I said: "Maybe we might as well just vanish from here."_  
>  _You’re just standing there, laughing._  
>  _My words won’t enter your ears, yet I still say them._  
>  _Just then,_  
>  _A meteorite falls at the very spot where you were._  
>  \- [From 7 to 8, PowapowaP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ujd9j7H8pw)

It all started when Touya finally felt a pull on his fishing rod.

Or maybe it all started when he left Unova on the back of Reshiram.

Or maybe it all _really_ began when he met a strange green-haired man on the day of his 15 th birthday.

Well, no matter how it had ultimately began, this portion of Touya’s life definitely began while he was fishing outside Goldenrod City. It was a rather ordinary late spring day and due to the cool breeze, the warm sun, and the lack of bites, Touya had ended up napping on the banks of the Goldenrod River, hat covering his eyes and hand still loosely grasping his fishing rod. Beside him sat his Lilligant, Lilly, as she bathed in the afternoon sun and chirped lightly.

It had been two years since the whole matter of Team Plasma invading the Pokemon League had went down, and Touya had skipped Unova shortly thereafter upon rounding up most of the Seven Sages. He had not returned since. He had left in search of the man who he had chased all throughout his journey through Unova, but there were no traces of him anywhere Touya had looked.

Not that Touya had looked that far, admittedly. In the past two years, he had just wandered around Kalos and Alola asking the occasional passerby if they had seen a green-haired man with a passion for math, talking quickly, and ranting about the evils of Pokemon Training. It wasn’t the most solid of plans. He had started by actively looking before quickly morphing into moping around the regions without calling home.

If there was one thing Touya hated about himself, it was his lack of drive. Although he had spent his childhood transfixed when the famous Red had made a name for himself at the tender age of 11, Touya had lain around Nuvema Town until age 15, prompting his mother to contact Professor Juniper for some barely hidden motivation to get out of the house. Then as Cheren was motivated to take on the League and even Bianca had be motivated to figure out what she had wanted to do with her life, Touya wondered aimlessly from gym to gym. Isn’t that what’s expected of a trainer? It wasn’t until N challenged him to try and stop Plasma that Touya had felt any real drive; even then, he had just been chasing after N the entire time. He had no motive to become Champion, but he wanted to prove to N that Pokemon and humans were better off working together.

But N left. And Touya wasn’t sure if he had proven anything like it.

Thus, two years later, Touya was still chasing N. And failing. He hadn’t called anyone from home in a year and a half. Every time he looked at his Xtransceiver he imagined Cheren asking if Touya had made any process, Bianca asking if Touya was feeling alright, Touya’s mother asking him when he would be coming home. It made the acid in his stomach churn, his palms grow sweaty.

As a result, his Xtransceiver sat dead on his arm. He couldn’t even bring himself to charge it.

Touya had decided to come to Johto two weeks ago upon hearing rumors of a large Pokemon flying around the region. While rumors are rumors, they were the closest thing he had heard to a lead in months. But after spending a good week wandering around with his head scanning the sky, Touya was no closer to finding N than he had been before.

Which lead to his current state of sleeping on the riverbanks outside of Goldenrod when he was supposed to be fishing. He had cast his line and released Lily from her ball with the idea of getting her some exercise fighting the Pokemon living in the river – and furthermore, giving Touya a chance to see some Pokemon native to the Hinoran islands that he had previously only seen on TV. But in practice, he hadn’t gotten more than the nibble of the occasional Magikarp he felt too bad for to battle.

This finally changed when Touya was roused from his nap by the increased tension of his fishing line. Of course, by “roused” I mean “rudely awakened as he began being pulled across the riverbank by his fishing line, knocking his hat off of his face and causing him to ingest large amounts of sand and rocks in the process.” Lily shook herself out of her daze and hopped after Touya in worry.

“W-whoa!” he yelled, struggling to his feet against the pull of the fishing line. “This is definitely not another Magikarp.” Touya finally managed to plant his feet solidly enough to begin fighting whatever Pokemon had caught the other end of the line. “Better get ready, Lily! This feel like it could be a real fight!” Lily chirped in agreement and stared ahead at the river in determination, clenching her leaves.

Touya grit his teeth as he fought to reel the Pokemon in.  “C’mon… Just a bit more…” he said. He took a deep breath and then yanked on the fishing rod. At that moment, the Pokemon attached to the end of his line shot out of the water in a blue blur before landing on the river’s shore.

The Pokemon, which was laying on the ground temperately dazed from hitting the ground, was a blue reptilian Pokemon with a set of red scales sticking out of its head and a set of… Quite a few teeth lining its jaw. Touya pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the unknown Pokemon, and it paused, thinking, for several seconds before asking Touya to point it at a Pokemon.

“Huh?” Touya quickly looked between his Pokedex’s screen and the Pokemon currently twitching on the ground before groaning. “Please don’t break now!” he said, shaking the computer. “The last thing I want to do to go crawling to the Professor so she can fix you.” He hit the scan button again, to no avail.

“Come on, think of all the times we shared together!” Touya begged his Pokedex. “You even survived the Inferno mishap!” But it still refused to give a result, even as the unknown Pokemon began struggling to its feet. “Ugh, I don’t have time to mess around with you more,” Touya grumbled.

At that moment, the Pokemon finally stumbled to its feet and glared at Touya, as if certain it knew who had caused its current pain. It rubbed its head with its hand briefly before letting out a deep bellow that sent shivers down Touya’s spine.

“I _definitely_ don’t have time to mess with you now,” Touya said, folding his Pokedex and stuffing it in his bag. “Lily!” he called. “Use Energy Ball!”

 Lily glanced at Touya, then at his finger, and then at where he was pointing before turning back to his face and chirping in confusion. Touya blinked back at her. Lily had never disobeyed a battle order in the entire time he had known her, especially not when a Pokemon had been showing clear danger to Touya.

“Lily, why are you looking at me like that?” he asked.

Lily pat Touya on his leg in reassurance as if to say “even if you are going slightly crazy, you will always be my Trainer.”

“Lily, c’mon. We need to f-ARGH!” At that moment, Touya at first vaguely felt pressure around his arm before it gave away to crushingpointysharpPAIN. Turning his head, he saw the Pokemon was latched onto his arm.

He screamed, shaking his arm to try and dislodge the Pokemon as he ran towards his bag.

“GET OFF GET OFF GETOFFGETOFFGETOFF!” he yelled. Lily chirped after him.

              Finally Touya managed to kick his bag open and he quickly stuck his hand in to find something, anything to remove the mass of muscle and teeth currently latched onto his right arm. Finally, he got his hand around something that felt vaguely throwable.

_A Quick Ball?_   he thought. _Oh well, it’ll have to do._ Touya quickly lobbed the ball towards under his right arm, where the body of the Pokemon was hanging.

…Only for the Quick Ball to sail way past his arm, as if it never even touched the Pokemon at all.

_I know I’m right handed, but my aim with my left hand can’t be that bad, can it?_ The Pokemon tightened its hold. Touya screamed. _Goodbye world. Sorry Mom for being a bad son who never called home. In my next life I swear-_

“Sam! Let go of that poor trainer!” cried a girl to Touya’s side. She sounded out of breath, as if she had been running after her Pokemon. After hearing the girl, the Pokemon (who Touya guessed was nicknamed Sam) finally released its grip on Touya’s arm. He cried in relief rubbing his arm. “Are you alright, mister?” the girl asked as the Pokemon jumped into her arms. Touya’s eye twitched.

“Does it look like I’m alright?” he yelled, waving his right arm in her face. “You’ve got to keep a better eye on your Pokemon! You can’t have it wondering around, attacking random Trainers! I mean, do you see what it did-“ Suddenly, Touya actually looked at the arm he was waving in her face. “D-did to my…” It was completely uninjured. There weren’t even holes in his jacket where the teeth had been. “H-how…?” he whispered, before turning his attention back to the girl. She looked young, clearly no older than 11. Although her blue hair was styled into rather… Striking pigtails, what caught Touya’s attention was the wobbling of her lip.

_Oh man, I just went off on a newbie Trainer. And not just any kind of newbie Trainer, the kind of newbie Trainer who’s six years younger than me. I’m the worst!_

“Hey, kid, I’m sorry for yelling. Uh, I remember how hard it was to control my first Pokemon too!” The girl looked up at Touya. “Though, uh, he only ran off to look at things. And his teeth aren’t nearly as pointy. And- Well, anyway, I guess I’m not as injured as I thought! So no harm done right?” Touya laughed nervously.

The girl continued to stare at him, lip wobbling.

Touya sweat.

The girl grew teary eyed.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Touya said. He couldn’t handle a girl crying. “It’s really not a big deal!” The girl wiped her eyes. “Look, uh, is there something I can do for you?”

The girl blinked, then looked Touya in the eyes. “…Something you could do for me?”

“Yeah, to make it up to for yelling. It could be anything! A battle, some advice, just name it!”

The girl bit her lip and squeezed Sam tighter, clearly deep in thought as she stared at the ground. “Well, there is one thing.”

“Yes?”

“It’s going to sound odd though.”

“That’s fine.” _Hopefully. What’s the worst a little girl could ask for?_

“I want you…” she trailed off before taking a deep breath and looking at Touya, eyes glinting with passion. “I want you to take me up to the roof of the Goldenrod Department Store and buy me and Sam Lemonades!”

_…That’s all?_

Touya scratched his head. “Well, ok. That doesn’t sound too hard.” Touya reached down to grab his bag, and pulled it over his shoulder. “I was going into the city anyway.” The girl squealed and clapped her hands together.

“Thank you so much, mister!”

Touya waved her off as he picked his fishing rod off the ground and folded it to put it back in his bag. “It’s really no big deal. Least I can do to help cheer up a new trainer.”

“Oh! Is this yours too, mister?” the girl said. She had released Sam and now had Touya’s hat in her hand. Touya nodded and she handed it over.

“Thanks,” he said, putting his hat back on. “But I’m way too young to be ‘mister,’ you know? My name’s Touya,” he said. “I’m from the Unova region. And this,” he said, gesturing to Lily who was still staring at the girl in confusion, “is Lily, my Liligant. She’s not my Starter, but we’ve been friends a long time.”

“I’ve never seen a Pokemon like her before in my life!” the girl exclaimed in wonder. “But she’s so cute!” Touya laughed.

Lily looked at Touya, giving one final chirp before she shrugged and hit her Poke Ball on Touya’s belt to return.

“L-lily! What are you doing!” he said. “I’m sorry, she’s not normally like this. She’s normally very friendly.”

The girl smiled, though for some reason Touya felt as if it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That’s ok. I mean you’re the first-“ She cut herself off. “Never mind,” she said before gesturing to the Pokemon beside her. “This is Sam! She’s a Croconaw and my precious Starter! She might be bitey, but we’re good friends!” Sam bellowed in agreement, flashing a toothy grin.

“Well, she’s certainly lively. And you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you! Who else?” Touya said. “What’s your name?”

“My name?” The girl paused before she gave a small smile. This time, it did reach her eyes. “My name’s Kris!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hinora, n. - it's poke japan, but saying poke japan sounds bad in fics. it consists of kanto, johto, sinnoh, and hoenn plus whatever regions represent the other prefectures of japan. it's derived from Hinomoto, a classical name for japan. with a bonus of somewhat sounding like "origin" is in their, since it has the first four regions.
> 
> the other collective region name used in this fic is "United Regions", which is obviously a play on the US and contains Unova, Orre, and Alola, plus whatever other regions based off of parts of the US game freak introduces someday.
> 
> Kalos is just Kalos.


	2. Synchronizer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _You just have to have faith in yourself, right?_  
>  _No need to get so dejected._  
>  _It’s fine; just let out everything._  
>  _I’m sure you have it in you, too._  
>  _If you want it, just make it come true yourself, y’know?_  
>  _What is it that you used to call yourself again?_  
>  _You don’t know? That’s not possible._  
>  \- [Synchronizer, orangestar](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP5H38KeWuM)

Trying to walk through Goldenrod City with a child trailing behind Touya was harder than he expected. Every so often he would look behind him to make sure that Kris and Sam were keeping up and he often found himself having to slow down after finding them about ten paces behind him. Clearly Kris was having trouble keeping up with his longer legs. But that was no matter, it's not like Touya had anywhere he really wanted to be anyway.

By the time he finally arrived at the department store, though, Kris was by his side. _Thank Arceus,_ Touya thought. _The last thing I want to be responsible for is losing a kid in the middle of a major city._

"Does it have to be from here?" he said as they passed through the automatic doors. Even though it was still early spring and not very hot, the AC was blasting inside. Just as well, as the huge building was packed.

"I mean, I guess not. But I don't know the location of any other vending machines in Goldenrod." Kris looked a bit sheepish. "At least you can replace any supplies you need as well?"

Touya hummed as he began climbing the elevator, but didn't reply. Kris followed behind, looking a bit sheepish. In this manner they climbed to the roof. Even Touya had to admit that the awkwardness was palatable. This was why he avoided interacting with people he didn’t grow up with, generally. _Or am uncomfortably obsessed with, I guess._

By the time Touya had made his way all the way from the route outside Goldenrod to the Department Store’s roof, the sun had already begun to set, bathing the rooftop in orange. Kris stopped at the end of the stairway, staring at the sprawling city quietly. Touya, on the other hand, pushed past her towards the vending machines.

At the end of the day, doing this cost Touya more time than money. He still had a healthy supply of Poke from his training days in Unova, and with Poke being an international currency, it had served him well over the past two years. 700 Poke was nothing in the long run. Touya was more focused on planning the rest of his route through Johto anyway. _I’ll stay in the Center tonight, since I’m in town. Next… If I remember correctly, they say that there was a large flying Pokemon seen in Ecruteak City a while back…_ It was then that he noticed a Youngster staring at him from the corner of his eye.

“…What’s up?” Touya asked the Youngster. He seemed to start before replying.

“I’ve gotta say, you’re awfully brave!”

Touya blinked. “For buying two cans of Lemonade from a vending machine?”

“Not just any vending machine, man!” the Youngster said. “Those are the infamous ‘haunted vending machines of the Department Store’!”

_Is he serious?_ “They look like normal vending machines to me.”

“You don’t know the story.” The Youngster crossed his arms and regarded Touya seriously. “They say that once a week, the vending machines just drop two Lemonades on their own. Then, the Lemonades float out of the machines all on their own. As for what happens next…” he trailed off. “…Actually, everyone I’ve heard the story from says they went running off after that. But I’m sure it’s something really creepy! That’s why I’m hanging out here tonight, you see.”

“I see.” _No, I don’t see at all! I heard that Johto was superstitious, but a haunted vending machine?_ “Well, clearly I’ve come out of my encounter unharmed. Best of luck to your ghost hunting.” Touya turned back to the stairs and waved the cans at Kris. “I got you the Lemonade. Anything else I can do for you?”

Kris’ eyes just darted between Touya and the Youngster. “Ah, Touya, maybe you should-“

“Really, don’t worry about it kid.” He placed the cans in her arms and then pated her head over her cap. “And don’t worry about repaying me either. 700 is nothing, especially to dry a girl’s eyes.” The Youngster coughed and Touya looked over. “What?”

“…You ok, man? I mean I could tell by your accent you aren’t from around here. But uh… Talking to air?”

“Talking to air?! Kid, she’s right here!” Touya gestured to Kris, who looked vaguely uncomfortable. The Youngster’s jaw dropped, and he stood staring at Kris.

“Float… Float…” He breathed in briefly before screaming, “Floating cans! They were right!”

“Huh?”

At that moment, Kris and Sam suddenly turned around. “Thank you very much, Touya!” she yelled, before running down the stairs.

Touya reached his hand out towards the empty space that had held Kris a few brief moments before. “Hey, wait!” he yelled. _What the heck’s going on here anyway?_ he wondered. _The only way I’m gonna know is if I can catch up to her and ask her directly._ “Kris, wait up!” he said before running after her.

He always liked to think that he was relatively decent at navigating crowds. After all, Touya was a Unova native, and Unova was one of the most populous regions in the world and THE most region in the entirety of the United Regions. But even he had to admit that trying to run through the crowd of a major city was not one of his brightest ideas. But still, he had no choice, because it seemed that Kris was having no issue doing it. So Touya had no choice but to yell his “sorry”s and “excuse me”s while asking for Kris to wait for five seconds so they could talk. _Oh god. Not to mention I’m a 17 year old guy chasing some 11 year old at best girl down. Police please, please don’t look my way._

Finally, Touya was close enough to reach out and grab her arm. Kris stopped in place. Touya felt bad about abusing his superior strength, but what was he supposed to do otherwise? She clearly wasn’t going to stop just because he asked her to. “Finally,” he panted out. “Can you explain to me just what exactly is going on here?”

Kris was silent a moment. “If you’re going to talk to me, you might wanna do in a more private place. Or else you’re gonna get stared at again.”

Touya sighed. “If you insist,” he said, looking around for somewhere where he wouldn’t be easily visible before spotting a nearby alley. “If I let go of your arm, are you going to actually follow me?” he asked.

“…Yes.”

“Good.” Touya released Kris and moved towards to alley. Now that he wasn’t trying to fight the flow of humans, it was much easier going, at least. Still, Touya couldn’t resist the urge to scrub his face with the palm of his hand. _What even has been this day? Is it ever going to end?_ Upon entering the alley, Touya leaned back against the wall. _This is what cool older kids do, right? Approachable ones at least? Or does make me look less approachable? Oh, but if I just stood there awkwardly would it look worse? Or-_

“You know, most young girls would be nervous following strange teenage boys into city alleys,” Kris said with a teasing lilt.

“I! Uh! Well!” Touya spluttered. “I would never! That’s not even a little bit something I’m interested-!”

“Relax, I was joking. I know it’s not like that.” Kris’ expression sobered, and her eyes fell to the ground as she began to kick the dirty ground with her foot.

Touya shook himself back to seriousness. “Alright, alright, let’s get to the point. Why did you run off after that kid didn’t notice you?”

“Why do you think?” Kris replied. Touya put his hand to his chin and thought back over the day.

“Well, uh. He thought I was crazy for talking to you, and then freaked out after see you hold those Lemonades I bought you. But that was after he told me some crazy story about a haunted vending machine, or something.” Touya scratched his head. “It was like he didn’t see you at all. Or at least only saw the cans. …Come to think of it, Lily didn’t seem to see you either. Or Sam for that matter. Maybe that’s why she wouldn’t attack? And my Pokedex didn’t register seeing Sam either, even though I’ve heard of Croconaw before. And you seemed shocked when I talked to you earlier too.” Touya squinted. “None of this makes any sense. Unless you and Sam are invisible or something?”

Kris bit her lip. Sam waddled over and patted her leg in reassurance. Touya blinked.

“You can’t be serious.”

Kris nodded. “You’re the first person who has seen me. Ever.”

Touya could feel his jaw drop. “W-what?” _This is officially the weirdest thing I have ever experienced in my life. And I knew a guy who claimed he could talk to Pokemon._ “People aren’t just invisible!”

“Well, I am. And I have been as long as I can remember,” Kris said.

“…How long is ‘as long as you can remember’?”

“About two years.”

Touya turned and faced the wall. He quietly pinched his wrist and winced at the pain. _Ok, not asleep. No guarantee that I haven’t lost it after two years without regular human interaction though._ Dimly, he released he was breathing heavily. _Ok, Touya. Don’t freak out. You’re the Hero of Truth or some sort of thing like that. You can get to the bottom of this. It’s, like, your nature. Or something. Yeah._ He turned back to face Kris.

“Ok. Ok, I’m accepting this,” Touya said.

Kris dropped her eyes to the ground and began wringing her hands. “I’m really sorry about this,” she said quietly. “Thank you for the drinks. I’ll get out of your hair now.” She scooped Sam back into her arms and turned to leave.

“Woah, wait there Kris.” Touya grabbed her by the arm and turned Kris around to face him. “You don’t have to leave. Look, do you wanna get dinner or something at the Center? It’s late. And I bet you don’t want to be alone.” He scratched his chin. “And, uh, honestly? I don’t either. You’re the first person I’ve spent any amount of time with in a long time. And it’s the same for you, right? A little socialization never hurt anyone.” _Unless they run off on a giant dragon after, that is._

Kris looked at Touya with something approaching awe before nodding. “I’d like that,” she whispered. “I think.”

***

This is how Touya found himself sitting in a booth in the Goldenrod Pokemon Center with too much food for just himself, talking into his Xtransceiver in an attempt to not look completely nuts as Kris sneaked the occasional bite when no one was looking.

“Where are you from, Touya?” Kris asked as she stuffed a fry in her mouth. “You don’t look that familiar with Goldenrod. And I’ve never heard of an accent like yours either.”

“Unova,” Touya replied.

“Unova? I’ve never heard of it. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a Pokemon like Lily either before.”

Touya shrugged. “Well, it is pretty far away. It’s all the way across the ocean and from the other side of an entire continent from here. And I guess you don’t have a super great memory either.”

Kris hummed in agreement. She was largely looking out the window, watching the city as she rested her head on her palm. Underneath the table, Sam was busy stuffing a hamburger into her mouth. “What are you doing all the way in Johto then?” Kris asked.

“Information gathering. I’m trying to find someone.” Touya chewed on his straw to his shake. “Actually, I’ve been trying for a couple years now. I haven’t been home in a while.”

“Wow,” Kris said. “This someone must be someone very special then.”

Touya shrugged. “I guess. But we never got along, really. I thought I could get through to him but then…” He sighed. “Well, it doesn’t really matter. I’m looking for him anyway.”

“What’s he like?”

“Tall. Green. Likes to talk fast about math and Ferris wheels. Spends a lot of time lecturing about not training Pokemon, considering he’s such a good trainer,” Touya said. Kris glanced at him and then giggled. “What?”

“Wow, I was right! He must be _very_ special! Since your face is all red and all.”

“H-huh?” Touya felt his face. It did feel a bit warm. Maybe. “I-it’s not like that at all!” Kris laughed. Touya shoved a burger in his face in embarrassment. _Why is a kid getting the best of me?_

Silence fell back over the pair, and Kris resumed her city watching for a few minutes before she spoke again. “It must be nice. To have people you wanna see so bad.”

“…You really don’t have anyone?”

Kris shook her head. “No. One day I just… Was. I’ve been in Johto this whole time and it feels familiar to me but… There’s nothing. It’s like there’s a block in my head. And until today, no one’s seen me at all.” She frowned. “…It’s been lonely, you know? I just wish I had some goal, like you.”

Touya set down the burger. “I don’t really have a goal either though,” he said. “I mean, I do, but if I’m honest with myself, I haven’t been chasing it that hard.” He sighed. “I’m not invisible, or whatever’s up with you, but to be honest, this is the most I’ve interacted with anyone in years. I’m supposed to be someone who always represents the truth of a situation, or something like that, but I haven’t been honest with myself. I guess I’ve been lonely too.”

Kris turned her head slowly and looked at Touya as he stared at his plate. Suddenly, she stood up and slammed her hands on the table. Touya startled and blinked up at her. “I’ve got an idea. A proposition, even,” she said breathlessly.

“And that is?”

“If we’re both lonely, and we’re both directionless, we’ll help each other!”

“How do you plan doing that?”

“It’s simple,” Kris said. “I’ll motivate you to find your friend and you’ll motivate me to find my past. And besides, you said that you have something to do with truth? Well, then you’ll have to find it! You have to be able to find the truth!” She paused before sitting down again. “I know it sounds desperate, but I’ve had no leads. Until you showed up I had no hope at all. But if you can see me… Maybe I can actually understand myself. A little anyway.”

Touya could hardly believe it. It was a plan that made no sense, had no direction. Touya had no reason to follow this girl. And yet… _I’m the only person who can see her. That has to be a lonely life. Can I really doom her to living like that again? And besides… I do need to start actually doing what I set out to do. And I want to know why Kris is like this._

Ultimately, he nodded. “You have a deal.”

Kris grinned. “It’s going to be great! Ooh, and maybe I can finally see the world outside of Johto! I heard that up north…”

Touya resumed eating. Truth be told, Kris’ enthusiasm was infectious. So much so that he barely noticed the time passing or the man who suddenly slid into the booth until Touya found himself staring at a pair of golden eyes and a really weird lock of hair. Touya leaned back in an attempt to regain some personal space. The man leaned more forward, studying Touya more. Kris suddenly fell silent as she stared at the man who has unknowingly sat next to her. _Weren’t Hinorans supposed to be more reserved? What has become of my life?_

“Uh, can I… Help… You?” Touya asked.

The man suddenly grinned. “You sure can! You can always tell who’s a good trainer, because we always wear hats, y’know?” he said, pointing to his own. “It’s like. Our symbol.”

“…Thank you?”

“Ok, the point is this,” the man said. “I need to you to battle and lose to a friend of mine. To cheer him up. Not that he’s particularly cheery even with happy, but, y’know…” The man sunk back into the booth. “I’m always beating him and while I know that’s impressive I think it pisses him off? Then again, he’s always pissed off. But I’m a good friend. And good friends-“

Touya pushed his hand out to shut him up. “Before you ask me to throw a battle, can you at least introduce yourself?”

The man grinned. “No problem! But I’m kinda a big deal around here, so you’ve got to keep it quiet, ok?”

“…Sure.”

“Great!” The man suddenly grabbed Touya’s hand and shook it vigorously. “The name’s Gold, and I’m the champion of this great region of Johto! Pretty impressive, eh?”

Touya felt a little faint. _No really, what even has been the past 24 hours?_


End file.
